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Thursday, 23 May 2013

I met Mr Chien-Lu Ping, Professor University of Alaska Raw Interview we met at the Ronald Reagan Airport and he had alot of information to let us know...

Extent of surface melt over Greenland’s ice sheet on July 8 (left) and July 12 (right). Measurements from three satellites showed that on July 8, about 40 percent of the ice sheet had undergone thawing at or near the surface. In just a few days, the melting had dramatically accelerated and an estimated 97 percent of the ice sheet surface had thawed by July 12.

After analyzing the samples, the research team discovered a previously undocumented layer of organic matter on top of and in the upper part of permafrost, ranging from 60 to 120 centimeters deep. This deep layer of organic matter first accumulates on the tundra surface and is buried during the churning freeze and thaw cycles that characterize the turbulent arctic landscape. Ping predicted that a two- to three-degree rise in air temperatures could cause the arctic tundra to switch from a carbon sink--an area that absorbs more carbon dioxide than it produces--to a carbon source--an area that produces more carbon dioxide than it absorbs. The more organic material stored in the tundra, the greater the potential effect of future releases. In the image, the areas classified as “probable melt” (light pink) correspond to those sites where at least one satellite detected surface melting. The areas classified as “melt” (dark pink) correspond to sites where two or three satellites detected surface melting. The satellites are measuring different physical properties at different scales and are passing over Greenland at different times. As a whole, they provide a picture of an extreme melt event about which scientists are very confident. Credit: Nicolo E. DiGirolamo, SSAI/NASA GSFC, and Jesse Allen, NASA Earth Observatory

atellites See Unprecedented Greenland Ice Sheet Surface Melt

07.24.12

NASA 2011

Chien-Lu Ping

Professor of Soil Science, Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station,
University of Alaska Fairbanks, AK, USA
Organisation: University of Alaska Fairbanks Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station
Education: